Originally Posted by Gregory891

I second this, I changed mine in Dec (it was cold) but fornature it doesn't take but 30 minutes on an E53 (the Xoutpost links, info & photographs are enough). You don't need to remove the glovebox. Good light will help.

The original OEM part was made by Valeo. A correct / genuine BMW one is marked Valeo/Sitronic and is made in Germany. They also have date codes.

There are some unknown origin parts on Ebay. Buy new and genuine for this, believe me you don't want it to fail in winter (I and other friends have experienced this).